Tangle - An update on Afghanistan.

Episode Date: May 24, 2022

It has now been over nine months since the U.S. left Afghanistan, so we thought it’d be a good time to do an update on what's happening there. Plus, a question about Vladimir Putin's health.You can read today's podcast here.You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here.Our podcast is written by Isaac Saul and produced by Trevor Eichhorn. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75. Our newsletter is edited by Bailey Saul, Sean Brady, Ari Weitzman, and produced in conjunction with Tangle’s social media manager Magdalena Bokowa, who also created our logo.--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/tanglenews/message Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The flu remains a serious disease. Last season, over 102,000 influenza cases have been reported across Canada, which is nearly double the historic average of 52,000 cases. What can you do this flu season? Talk to your pharmacist or doctor about getting a flu shot. Consider FluCellVax Quad and help protect yourself from the flu. It's the first cell-based flu vaccine authorized in Canada for ages 6 months and older, and it may be available for free in your province. Side effects and allergic reactions can occur, and 100% protection is not guaranteed. Learn more at flucellvax.ca. From executive producer Isaac Saul, this is Tangle.

Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening, and welcome to the Tangle Podcast, the place where you get views from across the political spectrum, some independent thinking without all that hysterical nonsense you find everywhere else. I'm your host, Isaac Saul, and on today's episode, we are going to be talking about Afghanistan and Afghan women, what's been going on there since we left, a little bit of an update on the situation there. As always, though, before we jump in, we're going to start off with some quick hits. First up, Georgia, Alabama, and Arkansas have statewide primary elections today. The race most people are keeping an eye on is in Georgia, where Trump-backed former Senator David Perdue is running against incumbent Governor Brian Kemp

for the Republican governor's nomination. Number two, five Republican candidates for governor in Michigan are facing disqualification after Michigan's Bureau of Elections said the contenders filed thousands of fraudulent signatures to qualify for the primary race. thousands of fraudulent signatures to qualify for the primary race. Number three, a Russian diplomat working for the United Nations resigned from his post yesterday in protest over the war in Ukraine. Separately, a Ukrainian court sentenced a 21-year-old soldier to life in prison for war crimes, including indiscriminately shooting a civilian. Number four, former Vice President Mike Pence

declined to rule out running against former President Donald Trump in the 2024 GOP presidential primary. Number five, a federal court upheld the suspension of a Florida law that restricted the ability for social media platforms to moderate political content. Outrage as a fate of girls worsens in Afghanistan. The economic situation so dire that some parents claim they are forced to sell their daughters for the rest of their family to survive. For the past five months, Khatira Ahmadi has been anchoring the morning news on TOLO TV, but this might be the last time she can show her face on air. 20 years of social progress were seemingly wiped out overnight, and now women, females,

young and old, are desperately seeking alternatives. In August of 2021, the Biden administration pulled the last remaining troops out of Afghanistan. In the final days of the U.S. occupation there, leaders of the Afghan government fled. The Taliban took control of the capital and two suicide bombers killed over 60 Afghans and 13 U.S. troops. The U.S. government evacuated more than 123,000 people in the final six weeks of the war, including over 6,000 Americans. Another several thousand people were evacuated in the first few months after the U.S. troops left. Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently testified that 126 Americans remain in Afghanistan, and 37 who are attempting to leave are being helped by the State Department. More than 600 Americans have left the country since the end of August. It has now been over nine months since the United States left Afghanistan, so we thought it'd be a good

time to do an update on what's been happening there. Early on in the Taliban's rule, they appeared to have moderated some of their restrictions, but that moderation has taken a harsh turn in the last few months. Girls are now banned from going to school after sixth grade, women are prohibited from most jobs and from boarding a plane without a male companion, and men and women can only visit parks on separate days. More recently, the Taliban ordered that all women in public wear head-to-toe clothing that leaves only their eyes visible and prohibited women from leaving their homes unless it was necessary. While the civil

war has abated and violence across the country is down, it has been besieged by a series of terrorist attacks. In a single week in April, 77 people, including children, were killed by terrorist attacks in northern Afghanistan and the capital of Kabul. The attacks were likely committed by ISIS-Khorasan or ISIS-K, an offshoot of the Islamic State terrorist organization ISIS that spread throughout Iraq and Syria and has now become prominent in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Al-Qaeda is also growing in strength in the region. The Afghan economy, meanwhile, has shrunk by 40% since the U.S. withdrawal, and the poverty rate could hit 97% by the end of this year. The International Rescue Committee has put it near the top of the emergency watch list,

warning that a collapse of virtually all basic services is possible. Below, we'll share some opinions from the right and the left, and then from two Afghan women about what has happened since the withdrawal. First up, we'll start with what the right is saying. Some on the right blame Biden for a chaotic withdrawal and criticize the Taliban for breaking its own promises. Others say the situation is tragic, but it is no longer America's problem. Some say we need to act now to help Afghan women in any way we can. The Wall Street Journal editorial board called the order for women to cover themselves in public a tragedy for Afghans and a nightmare for Americans still trapped there. The new Burka decree requires women to cover everything but their eyes outside the home,

the board wrote. If a woman's face is seen in public, her male guardian could face a fine and jail time. If an uncovered woman has relatives who work for the government, they could lose their jobs. Parks are now segregated by sex. Women can no longer go to school or travel on planes or taxis without a male companion. They face arrest and imprisonment for violations. Before the latest decree was announced, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the situation for Afghan women was quote, extremely mixed to negative. But, he added, quote, somewhat ironically, you might say, there is in the country at large greater stability and

relative peace, end quote. It's true that the civil war effectively ended after President Biden's surrender to the Taliban, but Mr. Blinken's words are cold comfort to anyone still trapped in the country, the board said. Islamic State, a Taliban rival, has carried out a series of terrorist attacks in recent weeks that risk spiraling into more violence. Oh, and the country's meth industry aimed at foreign markets is now booming. After its disgraceful withdrawal, the Biden administration has a particular duty to help Americans and allies left behind. Keeping the world's attention on Taliban abuses is an essential part of that duty. Daniel DePetris said Afghanistan is now someone else's problem.

Afghanistan is in dire straits, just as it was hanging on by a thread when 140,000 U.S. and NATO forces were fighting counterinsurgency operations in the small, mud-brick villages of Helmand and Kandahar provinces, he wrote. The big difference between now and then is that Afghanistan is no longer an albatross around America's neck. When U.S. troops were doing the fighting and dying, the world expected the U.S. to lead the Afghan file. Today, with U.S. forces no longer carrying Afghanistan on their shoulders, the responsibility is now thrusted into Kabul's own neighbors, who have far more at stake in Afghanistan's stability than the U.S. ever did. For Pakistan, a duplicitous U.S. partner that allowed Washington to use its airspace and roads

to funnel supplies into Afghanistan while its intelligence agencies supported the Taliban, a post-U.S. Afghanistan is turning out to be far more complicated than Islamabad thought. If Pakistan believed a Taliban-ruled Afghanistan would be taking orders from the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence Agency, then it was a massive miscalculation. Taliban-ruled Afghanistan is turning into quite a headache for the Pakistani security establishment, which looks at its next door neighbor and sees a country not doing much to combat anti-Pakistan insurgents operating on Afghan soil. But one thing is for sure, whatever happens on the ground, the United States will be watching the region's local powers work out their own arrangements. This isn't a bad place to be, especially if the alternative was a third

decade of war in Afghanistan. Natalie Gondola-Platt said we must act quickly to help the Afghan women. Influencers everywhere must do a better job of lifting the voices of Afghan women far and wide, she wrote. Afghan women and the organizations working on their behalf must have an equal seat at decision-making tables. Governments and international organizations must hold the Taliban to account for their continued violation of human rights. We have seen before what happens when Afghan women aren't included in consistent and meaningful ways in dialogue and diplomacy. Let's not repeat the same mistakes. Likewise, community-led efforts continue to have tenacity and impact. Organizations like the Afghan Institute of Learning, Razia's Ray of Hope, Code to Inspire, and others remain innovative and agile, never losing sight of their focus on the country's future.

Pathways to safety must be expanded for at-risk Afghans. Educators, prosecutors, policewomen, military members, and so many other Afghan women remain at serious risk of reprisal because their commitment to freedom, democracy, and the inherent dignity of all, ideals we as Americans and much of the world hold in the highest regard. All right, that is it for what the right is saying, which brings us to what the left is saying. Many call on America to take more Afghan refugees in. Some criticize the Taliban for their latest attempts at repression. Others say America's own policies are at fault. The Washington Post editorial board said don't forget the Afghan refugees who need America's support. For many of the 80,000 or so Afghans who made it to the

United States after the fall of Kabul last year, the challenges they face in acclimating to a new country are mounting, the board wrote. Thousands of others still in Afghanistan or nearby countries have been denied entry to the United States or wait in limbo. Congress could help, but has not. Most Afghans who arrived here were airlifted from Kabul during last summer's chaotic U.S. withdrawal, then housed in temporary quarters at military bases. They have since been resettled in communities across the country, but often without the financial and logistical support normally accorded refugees by the government. That's because Afghans, including thousands who assisted our troops

and risked their lives doing so over years, have not been granted refugee status, and because the Trump administration gutted the infrastructure for resettling refugees. Around the United States, scores of private groups staffed by volunteers have formed to help. They have provided Afghans with funds as well as assistance in forming community attachments, navigating red tape to apply for asylum, and accessing government aid. That help has been critical, but it is a poor substitute for systematic government assistance. Aid to some Afghan refugees has run dry, leaving them unable to pay rent or facing eviction. The Guardian editorial board decried the Taliban for turning the screws.

The growing repression demolishes Taliban claims to have changed since they last ruled Afghanistan, the board said. Even when they swept to power last August, some outsiders entertained the idea that this was more a moderate Taliban 2.0, given the promises to protect the rights of women and not seek retribution. The last-minute reversal of a promise to allow secondary education to resume for girls across the country highlighted internal divisions. Some clerics sympathetic to the militants have called for older girls to be allowed back to school, and in some areas they are already studying. But all the evidence is that the power of hardliners is becoming entrenched. At stake is not only women's freedom, but also the survival of families amid economic collapse. While the Taliban increases

their repression, they show little interest in or ability to tackle the immense humanitarian catastrophe. People are starving, the board said. Other countries have limited scope for action but must clearly and consistently reiterate their support for women's rights as a necessity and priority for Afghan women themselves. In the American Prospect, Emran Faraz pointed the finger at American policy for continued suffering in Afghanistan. Talk to your pharmacist or doctor about getting a flu shot. Consider FluCellVax Quad and help protect yourself from the flu. It's the first cell-based flu vaccine authorized in Canada for ages six months and older, and it may be available for free in your province.

Side effects and allergic reactions can occur, and 100% protection is not guaranteed. Learn more at FluCellVax.ca. Ordinary Afghans are starving, thanks mainly to sanctions and a currency crisis for us wrote the country's foreign currency reserves worth billions of dollars are still frozen these sanctions exasperate the suffering of millions of citizens apparently for the sole purpose of undermining taliban rule it seems that for the biden administration the war against the afghan people is far from being over while bombs and rockets were used in the past, economic warfare is the present. Many Afghans blame both the U.S. and the Taliban for the current situation. The country's new

rulers, for their part, are busy with policies that often betray a poor sense of priorities and an even worse understanding of modern governance and the services modern citizens expect, Faraz said. These zealots owe their position in large part to the American-led war on terror. Though American media portrayed them as an undifferentiated mass of fanatics, the Taliban in fact has factions, and the more practical and pragmatic Taliban leaders who were interested in dialogue were mostly killed during the occupation. All right, that is it for some opinions from the right and the left. And before we get to my take, I want to share two pieces from Afghan women, which I think is really important here. In the Connecticut Mirror, Rohina Rahimi,

whose business partner fled to Connecticut while she stayed in Afghanistan, said, Please don't forget us. I tried to leave the country too, but unfortunately there was no chance for me at that time. I had no choice but to close the business because we were working as a cohesive group and now we're not allowed to operate, she wrote. It is so shameful that in the 21st century our girls do not have permission to go to schools, our people live in poverty, and our children are struggling with malnutrition and hunger. And still the world is watching the death of my compatriots in complete silence. Today I am a software engineer, a businesswoman, and a writer, but I cannot help my people. I cannot The only thing that I have with me is the words that I share through social media platforms and to raise my voice against this injustice, she wrote.

Those who live in Afghanistan are suffering from severe poverty. They strive for their basic rights like education, work, and freedom of expressions and choice. Those who have left Afghanistan face a different type of systematic discrimination and judgment and are forced to completely change their lifestyle and their future goals. The only thing that I can say for people all over the world, please do not forget Afghanistan and the Afghan people, especially the Afghan girls and women. In the Washington Post, Shabana Basid Rasik wrote about the women protesting the Taliban's crackdown. Have you seen the faces of the women in Kabul? Have you seen them? These women who are my Afghan sisters carrying signs through the streets, their voices raised for justice, their bodies vulnerable

and unafraid. See them. Look now. Look before the blue tide rises and they disappear below, she wrote. In the Taliban's Afghanistan, women's bodies, opportunities, and futures are to be utterly controlled by men, and in the Taliban's Afghanistan, this control must begin at home. It's the last part of that sentence I hope you'll pay attention to. During its first regime in the 1990s, the Taliban beat women in the street if their clothing was insufficiently modest. This won't happen during its second regime, not because it has changed its goals, but because it has become more subtle about achieving them. Now, it says, women aren't the ones who will be disciplined. It will be their

guardians. An Afghan woman's guardians in the Taliban's Afghanistan are the men of her house, fathers, brothers, husbands, even sons. The Taliban is using its power to institutionalize control of women at the family level. The message it is sending Afghan men is a simple one. Control your women or we will punish you. All right, that is it for some takes from the right and the left and two opinions from some Afghan women, which brings us to my take. It's hard to find the words, honestly. I supported Trump's intent to leave Afghanistan and I supported Biden's follow through, though obviously the nature of the withdrawal was in many ways disastrous.

Reading what has happened over the last few weeks is the first time in the nine months since we left that I've doubted my position. It's both humbling and a bit stomach-churning. Afghanistan, for our 20 years there, was a safer place for women and girls, but a more dangerous place for the country as a whole, thanks to the never-ending civil wars. Our withdrawal has at least tamped down some of that violence and, as Antony Blinken said, ushered in some kind of sick stability on the backs of harsh Taliban rulers. But that stability only exists in relation to the civil war. In place of that war is a spike in poverty, hunger, and terrorist attacks, and now Afghan women are being sent back to the dark ages again. I'm in awe of those Afghan women who have braved the streets in protests,

refusing to wear their full face coverings and succumb to the oppression of the Taliban. Bravery is the understatement of the century. It's heroic. Many will lose their lives or freedom as a result. Yet the problem feels intractable. Even Basij Rasik, a co-founder and president of the School of Leadership Afghanistan, could not offer much in the way of a solution. Quote, the global community responded to the Taliban's edict with the usual words of concern, she said. I suppose that's something. I understand there's only so much they can do to alter the policy trajectory of a regime that seems to be doing everything in its power to prevent itself from attaining international

legitimacy, end quote. If she doesn't know, I don't know. And the truth is, I really don't know what to think. I'm glad American soldiers have left and glad so many Americans now see plainly that you don't, quote, spread democracy with bombs and soldiers and nation building. The war in Afghanistan is now rightly viewed as a catastrophic failure by just about everyone, plainly that you don't quote spread democracy with bombs and soldiers and nation building. The war in Afghanistan is now rightly viewed as a catastrophic failure by just about everyone, one so calamitous we now hesitate to engage in new wars elsewhere. Still, I'm left questioning my own support for the withdrawal. Is this really better? Is there a price for the innocent women, children, and civilians whose lives are now being destroyed by the Taliban and the nation's economic collapse? Was the meager troop presence really

such a high cost for everything that has been lost? It feels heartless and kind of absurd to make those arguments, even though I can't muster any rationale that staying there indefinitely was a better option. All right, that is it for my take, which brings us to your questions answered. This one is from James in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. What's up, Philly? James said, what should we make of the rumors that Putin is suffering from late stage cancer? Do you believe there is any substance to them? But more importantly, what happens if Putin dies, or as I've also seen, leaves the presidency this year or next?

Who takes power and what does that change in terms of Russia's current policy? I would say just proceed with caution. I mean, getting reliable information from the Kremlin is difficult enough. Getting it about Putin's private health is damn near impossible. I could think of a million reasons why someone would want to leak the fact he was very sick, and another million why someone close to him would make such a rumor up out of thin air. The best case that he does indeed have cancer probably comes from Oliver Stone, the Oscar-winning director who said recently Putin was fighting cancer when he had multiple interviews with him between 2015 and 2017. But Stone also said Putin had beaten the cancer. The other source for the rumors is Christopher Steele, the infamous source of the

Steele dossier. Let's just say his reputation has been called into question. Regardless, if Putin were to die or leave the presidency, I'm not sure anyone could guess what would happen. There were reports that Putin had some kind of mysterious surgery earlier this month, which a few news outlets attributed to cancer, but I couldn't find any reliable primary source on that. Those same news outlets said he temporarily handed power over to Nikolai Patrushev, a hardliner and former police chief while Putin was incapacitated. In terms of leadership potential, Patrushev is something close to a disaster. I mean, he is really a hardliner compared to Putin, which is saying a lot. So, I don't know. I'll concede that he looks unwell

in recent public appearances, but beyond that, it's just a pure guessing game on my part. But beyond that, it's just a pure guessing game on my part. All right, that is it for your questions answered, which brings us to a story that matters. The White House is under increased pressure to take action that would tamp down gas prices. CNN's Matt Egan scooped a report that the White House was considering tapping emergency diesel reserves to bring prices down. Experts say the move, which would draw from the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve, could only bring down prices for a couple of weeks or maybe months. Biden is also considering suspending some environmental rules designed to reduce smog in order to allow a wider range of gasoline to be used this summer and to get the price down. That's according to Reuters.

There are links to both of those stories in today's newsletter. All right, next up is our numbers section. 38.9 million is the population of Afghanistan. The number of women living in Afghanistan is 18.9 million. A rough estimate of the total number of people who have been evacuated from Afghanistan by the United States is 124,000. The amount of money spent on evacuation flights is 37 million. The number of Afghans brought to the U.S. so far according to a February estimate is 76,000. far according to a february estimate is 76 000 all right last but not least our have a nice day section while the taliban has tried to restrict girls education hundreds of girls and women have

found a way to keep learning in underground classrooms through encrypted online classes or hidden makeshift classrooms af Afghan women are continuing to enroll in the country's first all-female coding academy that existed before the Taliban took over. Course content was uploaded online and laptops and internet packages were discreetly handed out during the Taliban takeover. There are threats and dangers to girls like me. If the Taliban get to know, they might punish me severely. They might even stone me to death, Zainab Muhammadis told Reuters. But I have not lost hope or my aspirations. I'm determined to keep studying. Good Good Good has the story. There's a link to it in today's newsletter. All right, everybody, that is it for the podcast. As always, if you want to support our work, go to readtangle.com slash membership and

become a member or just click around in the episode description of our podcast. There's links to donate. There's, you know, the ability to give us a five star rating if you want. All that stuff is super helpful. Please, please, please take 20 seconds to do it. I can't emphasize enough how much it is a big help to us and keeps this whole operation running all right everybody that's it and uh we'll see you tomorrow peace our newsletter is written by isaac saul edited by bailey saul sean brady ari weitzman

and produced in conjunction with tangle's social media manager, Magdalena Bokova, who also helped create our logo. The podcast is edited by Trevor Eichhorn, and music for the podcast was produced by Diet75. For more from Tangle, subscribe to our newsletter or check out our content archives at www.readtangle.com. The flu remains a serious disease. Last season, over 102,000 influenza cases have been reported across Canada,

which is nearly double the historic average of 52,000 cases. What can you do this flu season? Talk to your pharmacist or doctor about getting a flu shot. Consider FluCellVax Quad and help protect yourself from the flu. It's the first cell-based flu vaccine authorized in Canada for ages six months and older, and it may be available for free in your province. Side effects and allergic reactions can occur and 100% protection is not guaranteed. Learn more at flucellvax.ca.